A Message to Ahaz
In the days of Ahaz, Rezin king of Aram and Pekah king of Israel come up against Jerusalem, though they cannot overpower it. When the house of David hears of the alliance, Ahaz and his people tremble like trees shaken by the wind, exposing how deeply fear has seized the royal house.
N1ow in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city. 2When it was reported to the house of David that Aram was in league with Ephraim, the hearts of Ahaz and his people trembled like trees in the forest shaken by the wind.
The LORD sends Isaiah and his son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz and tell him to remain calm, because the two enemy kings are only smoldering stubs of firewood. Though Aram and Ephraim plot to invade Judah and install the son of Tabeal, their conspiracy is already bounded by God's word.
3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field, 4and say to him: Calm down and be quiet. Do not be afraid or disheartened over these two smoldering stubs of firewood— over the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah. 5For Aram, along with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has plotted your ruin, saying: 6‘Let us invade Judah, terrorize it, and divide it among ourselves. Then we can install the son of Tabeal over it as king.’
The Lord GOD declares that the plan of Aram and Ephraim will not stand or happen, because their political centers and kings are limited and doomed. The oracle ends with the sharp warning to the house of David that if it will not believe, it will not be established, making faith the true issue beneath the military crisis.
7But this is what the Lord GOD says: 8For the head of Aram is Damascus, 9The head of Ephraim is Samaria,